CD Baby buys Show.co

Music distribution firm CD Baby has acquired digital music marketing platform Show.co. As part of the deal, it also plans to reactivate Soundrop, the one-time social listening app that previously worked within the Spotify player.

Show.co, which provides content sharing and data collection tools for artists and labels, will continue to operate as normal. The marketing platform originally spun off from Soundrop, before the people behind the two services decided to focus on the former after Spotify stopped supporting third party apps on its desktop software.

CD Baby now plans to launch an all-new Soundrop service, which will “become the new springboard for artists looking for an alternative distribution approach, one that favours constant creation and single-first strategies”.

Says CD Baby VP Of Marketing Kevin Breuner: “We’re excited to continue Show.co’s powerful marketing tools for musicians. It’s another set of tools we can offer to the independent musicians we have worked to support and encourage for years. We see this as another high-calibre way to serve musicians and give them the best of what’s out there, [and] for existing Show.co customers it will be business as usual”.

Meanwhile the former CEO of Show.co and Soundrop, Jørn Haanæs, added: “We are very happy to see a new home for Show.co and a new future for the Soundrop brand. Soundrop and Show.co were both about helping artists connect with their fans. To finally see the last part of our original vision take effect is wonderful. Entering into music distribution was always the dream, as that’s the ultimate fan connection, now it’s soon to be the reality”.